The Risks of Tongue Piercing: 10 Ways It Hurts Your Mouth & Teeth

Oral piercing is a practice that seems to be gaining popularity in the United States. The most common places to get a piercing in your mouth are the lips, tongue, cheek, and the uvula (the “hangy-ball” thing in the back of your throat.) People want to get their tongue pierced for a variety of reasons. One of the biggest reasons is to make them look trendy — people want to fit in, and if they can be seen as cool for getting their tongue pierced, then they’ll go for it. Unfortunately, not many people are aware of the many risks associated with getting your tongue pierced. I think if people understood the dangers of tongue piercing, fewer piercings would be performed. I’m planning on writing a couple of articles about the risks of tongue piercing. This first article will focus on ten ways that tongue piercing hurts your mouth and teeth. The next one will talk about the negative effects that oral piercings have on the rest of your body.

1 – Tongue piercing causes chips, cracks, and/or fractures in your teeth. Wearing tongue jewelry can not only damage your teeth, but it can damage expensive dental work that you may have already had done. The effect of tongue jewelry on teeth is especially important when participating in exercise and athletic activities. When in doubt, take the barbell out! It is important to note that if you leave out your tongue jewelry for more than a few hours, it may be next to impossible to get the jewelry back in.

2 – Tongue piercing causes gum recession, also called localized periodontal disease. If you wear a barbell in your tongue, it can rub up against and irritate the gums on the tongue side of your teeth. This has led to gum recession in many people who have their tongue pierced. In older adults, periodontal disease (not cavities) is usually the most common cause of tooth loss. 3 – Tongue piercing can wear down your teeth. Out of habit, many tongue-ring wearers often rub their tongue ring up against their teeth. Over time, this can wear down the enamel. Over time, you could expose dentin or experience increased sensitivity or cavities. If you insist on having a tongue piercing, trying out a shorter barbell may reduce the damage that it inflicts on your mouth — although it would be best to get rid of the tongue jewelry altogether!

4 – Tongue piercing can cause speech impediments. Tongue piercing can make it more difficult to talk. You use your tongue for making a lot of sounds when you talk. If you get a tongue ring, it makes it a lot harder to speak correctly. 5 – Tongue piercing can cause nerve damage. An inexperienced piercing parlor worker may inadvertently cause permanent damage to the nerves in your tongue or other areas of the mouth depending on how the tongue is pierced. The person doing the piercing needs to have a sound knowledge of the anatomy of your tongue. If you do get your tongue pierced, it’s important to find a reputable, high-quality piercing parlor to cut a hole in your tongue. You probably wouldn’t enjoy having parts of your tongue permanently numb. Many people hate having their tongue numb for a couple of hours after getting a filling — just imagine how hard it would be to not fully enjoy the taste of your food or constantly have your tongue give you that numb, tingling sensation. 6 – Tongue piercing can cause bad breath. Tongue jewelry is a good place for the plaque in your mouth to live. It’s harder to brush if you have tongue jewelry. Also, if you don’t regularly clean your tongue jewelry, it can accumulate bacteria that make your breath smell pretty disgusting! 7 – Tongue piercing can cause a space between your two upper front teeth, also known as a diastema. Although this isn’t very common, it does happen as evidenced by this case report written by orthodontists. 8 – Tongue piercing can cause excessive drooling. Tongue piercing can cause an increase in the amount of saliva you make. Although saliva is good for the teeth, too much can be a problem. You probably won’t look too cool with a tongue ring if you leave a puddle of spit everywhere you go! 9 – The metal tongue jewelry can cause a metal hypersensitivity reaction. You could end up being allergic to the metal in your tongue jewelry. If you were excited about having metal tongue jewelry and then end up having to wear a plastic barbell, you may be disappointed. 10 – Tongue piercing can cause pain and infection. The tongue piercing itself could cause pain and other complications. Many people who have had their tongue pierced say that it was quite painful. Here’s one story about how much tongue piercing hurts from Yahoo! Answers. You might get an infection depending on how sanitary the piercing parlor is. Most people have some degree of swelling after their tongue piercing. If you have a low tolerance for pain, you may want to reconsider.

More Reading on the Negative Effects of Tongue Piercing

I read a LOT of great articles while researching for this post. Here are a couple you might be interested in:

Conclusion

Keep in mind that of all of the negative effects listed above, the most common are damaging a tooth and causing gum recession. If you’re thinking about getting your tongue pierced, please re-think your decision. You may look cool around some of your friends, but the damage that tongue piercing does to your mouth isn’t worth it. Although I didn’t mention this above, because it’s not a huge consequence of tongue piercing, think about how much you love tasting your food — especially with Thanksgiving tomorrow. Do you really want to damage some of your valuable taste buds by getting your tongue pierced? For all of the Americans reading this, have a great Thanksgiving day tomorrow! If you have any questions or comments about tongue piercing and oral health, please leave them in the comments section below.

76 COMMENTS

Having your tounge pierced doesn’t hurt at all! It’s quick and painless, they don’t cut a hole in your tounge either they pierce through it with a needle. That’s why it’s called a tounge “piercing”. If you take care of it properly it won’t get infected and it will heal up rather nice and quickly. People without tounge piercings just wouldn’t understand. Their loss.

No. Don’t be stupid. When the dentist last filled the cavity (hole) in your last tooth, did THAT affect your taste buds long term? Come on, are people like you REALLY the future of the human race? If so, let me off this carnival ride.

Are you the future of the human race? Because if people like you were around I’d kill myself in an instant. I feel that their question was a legit question. If someone who doesn’t know how to give tounge piercings pierced my tounge, I would be freaking worried about my tastebuds or a numb tounge. And actually, I know a person who did go to the doctor for a cavity filling and I’m not sure what the doctor did to him, but now he can’t feel or taste on half of his tounge. so do u have the right to call people stupid?

no it cant ruin ur taste buds if is done properly because if u look at anatomy books and read bout the tongue the taste bus are in pairs apposite either side of tongue. sweet front tip, sour either side edges behind, salt same further back and bitter is back. ur tongue ring wud b in the middle so yea. i hav my tongue pierced and i still taste exactly the same as i did before.

yes it can cause you to lose your taste and all the stuff above!…some people have to get part of their tongue cut off because it gets infected so just because it didn’t happen to you doesn’t mean it does not happen

Infection isn’t the piercings fault or necessarily the piercer’s fault either, if a tongue piercing done by a licensed professional gets infected its most likely that the person who got it done didn’t take care of it the way he/she was supposed to.

Obviously the person who wrote this article hasn’t met anyone who has had a successful tongue piercing at a reputable piercing establishment and has a biased opinion. There has been no effect on my speech whatsoever. I also brush my tongue jewelry when I brush my teeth so there is no plaque buildup. Tongue piercings are far enough back in your mouth, if done correctly, so it will not even go close to your teeth unless you put it there. Unless you go to a back alley piercer, once your piercing is healed, you won’t even notice it is there

As long as you get it done professionally, clean your mouth constantly with alcohol free mouth wash, get it dotted making sure the bar doesn’t go through a vain and take it out if any infection occurs they’re fine. Not many people get it done because of others but mainly for themselves. Any piercing comes with risks; as do tattoos and hair dyes, it shouldn’t stop you from trying it out so long as you’ve done research and you’re prepared for swelling from 2-6 days. I’m 15 and I know all of this, I think teens and their parents are smart enough to know what they’re doing before they do it. Not all kids are stupid, just the ones in the papers.

When I had mine done, the swelling lasted a solid ten days and it was about two weeks before I could reliably chew and swallow solid food. The initial piercing was a breeze, and with proper jewellery it’s not an issue, but the healing process was the worst of any piercing I’ve had! Oral piercings can behave differently from other piercings, so even if you have lots of other piercings already, be prepared for anything…!

I would’ve hoped to have seen something a little more unbiased from ‘professionals’ I think you’ve only succeeded in making people roll their eyes at this and get a piercing anyways. But thanks for trying

Hi Julie – Thanks for your comment – I am open to editing the article, I don’t want to come across as biased against them, but after seeing the damage that they can do to the teeth, I thought it was fair to give the public a look at the disadvantages to getting your tongue pierced since many people only see the glamorous side of it.

If you have any suggestions on what to add, let me know and I can change it up. I don’t want people to simply roll their eyes at this. Thanks!

i literally laughed at half this article. i feel you are very uninformed about the piercing industry as a whole. i dont blame you, ppl fear what they dont know,inform yourself. so i have 21 piercings(had 25, retired 4 for no good reason). i have never had an issue with any of my piercings(thank god). if u care for ur body correctly it will heal itself, jus like after surgery ect. i have never: chipped a tooth, had my jewelry rub my gums or teeth, cause bad breath or cause paradontal desease. now i know im not a unicorn others have had the same experiences but not every piercee has. this is due to misinformation. with any piercing if u have the correct size jewelry and the highest quality metal u wont have issues unless u neglect your piercing. plz inform yourself and help inform others.

no you can lose your tasted buds and fillings cause i did and i guess i was the lucky one because the guy that did mine done about 15 before mine and he has been doing it for years the sign in the room said about 1 in every 150 people it will happen to

you and others (including me) are lucky that nothing bad happened to us after piercing our tongue. But just to let you know that there are some who are facing bad experiences through this so this article helps too, and at least making them aware of some bad effects that might happen after.

“There are answer meant to be kept in secrets than to unravel its mystery and soon will have regrets.” =)

Wtf man, don’t make it sound like tongue piercings are next to evil. Don’t tell someone to “think again” about getting a tongue piercing. If they want to, they bloody well can. I got my tongue pierced just a week ago, it’s completely fine now, getting it pierced didn’t hurt AT ALL. In fact, getting my cartilage pierced hurt more. Did you know that tongue piercings are the quickest piercings to heal? They’re the most painless. A cartilage piercing is more likely to get infected than a tongue piercing, and so many more people get their cartilages pierced than their tongues. Your mouth is the fastest healing part of your body, so no wonder a tongue piercing is the fastest piercing to heal.
I suggest you take down your whole post about the evils of tongue piercings before you get outsmarted by more people who actually know what they’re talking about.

As a veteran body piercer the only instances I have come across of issues with tongue peircings are when they are done by people who are not qualified. This is why its important to check a studio before getting any procedure done. I personally have only had issues with people who refused to look after the piercing properly which no piercer can be held responsible for. Infection does not begin at the source as it is done in a sterile hospital standard environment, if the customer dosent take the professional advice of the piercer thats their issue. Having said that most piercers are there to help.

A friend of mine broke a tooth biting into a carrot are you going to write an article about the dangers of eating raw vegetables too??? In every profession there will be disreputable people including dentistry perhaps I shall write an article highlighting unscrupulous dentists who carry out unnecessary procedures just to make more money which has happened to me personally. Your article is biased with no attempt to remain neutral which would have gained your piece much more respect for its content.

I’ve had my tongue pierced for 15 years.Just for the record, that was before it was “cool”. I have never had an infection, chipped a tooth, suffered nerve damage, or anything. I WILL acquiesce and admit that if one does not clean ones barbell regularly, ones breath may not be that great. But that is true when it comes to ALL oral hygiene.

I think that if anyone gets a piercing to look bad ass in front of their idiot poser friends, they deserve an infection. So, thanks for hopefully stopping some dumbass clown teenybopper from giving REAL piercing aficionados a bad rap.

I want to get my tongue done this Sunday or Tuesday and your freaking me out with this but I still want one the web and the tongue r the quickest piercings of If i can get my web done i can do my tongue done wish me luck

I’ve had side by side tongue piercings (known as “venoms”) for over 6 years. In the time I’ve had them I’ve bitten my jewelry exactly once- when the initial bars were in and the swelling had gone down but my new bars (which were custom ordered for an exact fit) had not yet arrived at the shop. Fit is key and proper jewelry makes all the difference. For me, wearing jewelry called tongue labrets has minimized my risk of my jewelry rubbing my gums or hitting teeth, since the relatively flat bottom is less bulky.

This wasn’t a very balanced argument. Yes all above can and may happen but almost all body mods carry risk. You can reduce risk by assessing that it is you who wants the piercing for you, not for others. Research to find a safe, clean, certified professional to carry out the piercing. Use the correct larger sized bars and follow cleaning instructions and procedures during healing.
I reduce risk to my teeth by wearing silicone jewellery on a daily basis with smaller balls. I do not have any speech difficulties I am an interpreter by trade so my speech is of high value to my profession, speech changes upon initially having it pierced through the healing stage only as swelling can occur and the jewellery is quite large. My taste buds have not been affected at all.

Just consider carefully and research thoroughly before you decide. Use common sense and listen to professional’s advice.

well to all the people who said tounge piercings do not hurt well its differnet for diff people caz im a guy and i got mines done and that shit hurted for like only 3 secs but i have been drowling ever since and i never droll i hate it and now im having second thoughts and i already have a gap in my frotn teeth but its getting closed and im chaning my bar bell to plastic so i want cheap my teeth

The tone of this article is ridiculous. Most people get body mods – including adult braces, ear piercings, cosmetic mole removal, breast implants, and tanning – for themselves. People get their tongue pierced because they enjoy the aesthetic, not because “they can be seen as cool for getting their tongue pierced.” I assume the writer doesn’t make all of their personal choices concerning their appearance for cool points, it’s absurd to assume the majority of people with unconventional piercings are just living their lives trying to seek approval from others.

A tongue piercing should only ever be a problem for two reasons 1. Going to a unlicensed piercer or 2. failing to follow the aftercare procedure correctly. In most cases I have seen where problems have occurred with any piercing is the latter. Fortunately I can say I have had my tongue pierced for over ten years now and have never had a problem. I give it a good clean once a week with salty water (this is most natural to your body) and brush under my tongue. I don’t have any problems with my teeth or gums and no fillings at nearly 30.

Wow this wasn’t a well thought out article you should really get all the facts straight before dissing a piercing you probably don’t have. For ONE everyone is going to talk a little funny after getting it pierced because your tongue swells up, TWO nerve damage will only happen if you go to an unlicensed Piercer, THREE excessive drooling not everyone gets it but a lot do that again is from a swollen tongue after two days it goes away. FOUR bad breath anyone can have bad breath if you don’t brush your teeth right or often enough that’s not the piercings fault its the person with poor Hygiene’s fault.

So I just got.my tongue pierced, and guess what? It didn’t hurt a lick. Also anu good piercer will use a new needle from a sealed package for each tongue piercing. Ontop of that how a tongue piercing turns out is entirely up to the piercee. If you rinse the piercing after eating with nona alcoholic mouth wash it helps. One good brand is Hello. You might also try a sea salt and water rinse. You could even try just dabbing sea salt around the piercing. And btw of kept clean the swelling is managable by ways of ice chips. Ive had my piercing for two days now and the swelling is already going down. Yoh might also try sticking to softer/ cooler foods for the first bit of having your piering. Also while relearning to eat take teeny, tiny bites lol. Yeah right now I have speech problems, but I’ll quickly adjust, its literally just like when I had braces. And if I end up with tooth damage of any kind its because my teeth are weak from 6 years of braces. You sir need to get yourself properly educated about oral piercings.

I have my tongue pierced. I recently took it out becauae of the same things mentioned in this article. I have had it for a few years and it was pierced by a professional. I take very good care of my teeth and mouth might I add. I took it out because it pushed my gums down on the bottom and its also gave me a horrible taste in my mouth. As if I was eating metal. YuCK. It also put a SLIGHT (you can barely see it even looking closely at it) gap at the very botton of my front two teeth. I loved my tongue ring. It was cute. But to me, as a mother of two small children, and me being 22 years old, I did not find it CLASSY anymore. And I also felt like a tool box.. I have my nose pierced but I recently taken it out. All I have now is my ears and my Marilyn Monroe. It feels very nice to have my mouth free of a barbell sticking through my tongue. Im sure I will miss it but not as much as I have missed fresh breath!!! 🙂

1. Tongue piercings only damage the teeth if it’s a metal piercing and it touches your teeth on a regular basis. A acryllic piercing further back on the tongue has exactly ZERO chance of ruining your teeth.
2. This only happens if you keep running the ball over your teeth and gums, which makes it your fault, not that of the tongue piercing.
3. Same as 1 & 2
4. You might get a lisp when the piercing is too close to the tip of your tongue. If it’s more to the back of the tongue the chances of getting a lisp are next to none.
5. This would be the fault of the piercer, not the piercing.
6. Ever heard of mouth wash?
7. This only happens if you continueously put the barbell between your front teeth and bite down on it (like some people do to make changing the ball easier). Again, the fault of you, not of the piercing.
8. Excessive drooling…really? That happened in HOW many cases? Oh, that’s right. None. Yes, you have some more saliva in your mouth the first few months because you need to get used to swallowing again, but never enough for drooling. exept maybe when you’re sleeping, but then again, there are a lot of people who DON’T have tongue piercings who drool when they’re sleeping.
9. Metal Hypersensitivity is caused by your body’s reaction to the metal in the piercing. the piercing itself has absolutely nothing to do with it. that’s like saying peanuts can cause a peanut allergy.
10. Getting a tongue piercing isn’t pleasant. I’m not going to say it doesn’t hurt at all, because fact is: it does hurt. Not when you’re getting it, but the week after you might find yourself wondering how you could’ve ever been so stupid. But you’re putting a piece of metal THROUGH your tongue, of COURSE it hurts. I’d be more worried if you can shove a needle through your tongue and be completely fine. BTW, infection isn’t caused by the piercing, it’s caused by the piercer making a mistake in how and where he places the piercing or by you when you don’t clean your mouth enough, keep putting your fingers in your mouth without washing them, drinking alcohol and smoking with an open wound in your mouth,…

And BTW: In order for the piercing to destroy your tastebuds to the point of not being able to taste anything at all, the piercing would have to cover your ENTIRE tongue. you have tastebuds on every inch of your tongue and only a very small hole is created to fit the piercing in. Only the 20 or so tastebuds in that specific area will be damaged and you won’t notice that at all.

Conclusion: most of these problems are caused by the piercer making a mistake or by the person getting the piercing making a mistake. And the rest of the problems are wildly exagerated. If you want to get a tongue piercing to be cool, don’t. you ARE injuring yourself by putting a needle through your tongue. But if it’s something that you want and something you know you’d still want even if it was the most uncool thing ever, then don’t let this stop you. Find a good piercer and treat the piercing with the proper care and NONE of these problems will bother you at all. EVER.

Well i think some of the info is wrong and some is rite. I have my tongue done and i have no problems. I take care of mine and ive had mine for about 2 years. My teeth are still the same and are in good shape. What i try to do is not play with it all the time i even sometimes for get that its in there. I use plastic balls on mine so its not so bad on my teeth. :))

I’ve had my tongue done for over 10 years and no problems from it at all. The only piercings that have caused me grief where my lebre piercing because of the flat back it rubbed the gum away on my front teeth but since the gum has rubbed away there has been no I’ll effects from it in fact the front teeth are in better condition than the rest because of the rubbing constantly there is never any plaque buildup so I would much rather have no gum there. ( my family has notoriously bad teeth and my lebre has allowed me to keep very clean front teeth even with constant brushing etc.) And lastly my ear cartilage they hurt like a bitch and took 2 years to heal cuz every time I played down or was touched there the cartilage broke again or caused bleeding. After having them for 5 years now I’m still getting more piercings. I have 10 so far with very little I’ll effects. I think that the most frustrating thing is when you go to the dentist they always complain about smoking or piercings but never my soda drinking and I only drink soda no water at all. They like to blame everything on my piercings or smoking but I had bad adult teeth before smoking and piercings so where’s the proof that caused bad teeth or made my teeth worse? Dentists are schooled to be biased against piercings or smoking because that is what they are taught causes problems and that’s just not true 100% of the time I think a new study needs to be done because even the 20 or so people on this blog are stating no problems and like 2 did have problems or know of someone who has had problems so that rite there in an indipendant study would be enough proof that piercings or smoking does not in fact always cause dental problems I think it is ultimately up to the individual and how they care for their teeth that is the only factual evidence that can be taken into account for tooth damage from piercings/ smoking etc. Because the person who wrote this blog is a dentist he is biased and no matter what way he tries to be non biased he always will unless he goes to get a tongue piercing (even if only for a short while like 2 months to be safe and give it time to see the full effects) he will always be biased because he was trained that way and has only assumed from seeing tooth damage with his patients who have tongue jewelry that those caused it but in reality like someone on here said prior their friend chipped a tooth on a carrot…. How would he know for a fact that the tongue piercing caused the damage and that the person didn’t do something else to cause the damage.

I had the same thing a while ago, it was freaking me out so I ended going to my piercer, it wasn’t infected because it was like 2 years of it being pierced. But I’d been playing with it and caught the hole. Went after about a week, did hurt a bit. If you take it out it’ll heal within like 3 days. It could even be an inflamed taste bud. Just leave it alone, and don’t mess with it

I had mine done 3-4 days ago and the roof of my mouth was so raw and sore I took it out. My tongue feels like it has been burnt can’t really taste much at all not could I eat or drink and I was starving.. So yes this post is helpful and gives great advice.. So wish I would have listened to my gut before I did it.. Those with no problems props to you, it’s not meant for everyone but ppl still try it some keep em some don’t.. Good luck with yours
Oh on yes it did make my speech a lot different I kept having to repeat myself and the more I did the worse it hurt. And no the swelling didn’t stay that long but mouth is raw and sore and everything is tasteless..

I had my tongue pierced for over 5 years, and I wish I would’ve never had gotten it done because they are seriously not worth the dentist bill . . . if you still want a piercing, just get something else done… I had my tongue and libre pierced for a long time, and I’ve taken them both out recently because even if you don’t mean to, you will still end up chewing on the rings and you will still end up chomping down on ur tongue ring when ur eating and it is not a pleasant feeling at all… If u do get a tongue or lip piercing, u will end up chipping/cracking a tooth. I have teeth that need fixing now just because of the oral piercings I once had…..

This isnt true,im 18 now and ive had my tounge pierced since i was 15 and not once have i had a problem . Only thing that happens sometimes is the ball falls off and i swallow it . Other than that its cute and perfect(;

Firstly, all professional piercing parlours use titanium gewelry which is the same metal used for hip replacements. The titanium is high quality and does not cause allergic reactions. Secondly, the majority of barbells for the tongue piercing have plastic balls which wear a war quicker than Teath and gums and are too light to chip the teeth.

I’m not sure why everyone is attacking Tom over this article, not once did he say it’s “next to evil” or make it appear as such. I think he was very informative and it makes you think before just blindly getting a piercing that can affect your life in a negative way if you’re not aware of the possible risks. Doesn’t mean everything stated in this article will happen to every single person who pierces their tongue, I just got my tongue pierced and this article makes me want to take care of my piercing extra carefully so that the chances of these things happening are minimal if not to happen at all: I appreciate your proffesional opinion on tongue piercings as a dentist and yes I was aware of all of these things before getting the piercing done, and if I have any symptoms of anything listed here I will of course honour my body over a piercing that really is just something i kicked off my bucket list.
My health>piercing.
Thanks Tom for keeping the public informed of possible negative affects of this specific piercing 🙂
Cheers all,
Aly

Having your tounge pierced doesn’t hurt at all! It’s quick and painless, they don’t cut a hole in your tounge either they pierce through it with a needle. That’s why it’s called a tounge “piercing”. If you take care of it properly it won’t get infected and it will heal up rather nice and quickly. People without tounge piercings just wouldn’t understand. Their loss.

My mother had a tongue piercing done a long time ago before getting married. Very soon after getting it initially pierced, she removed the piercing and her tongue is now fully healed with minimal scarring. However. The tongue piercing had created long term damage to her teeth and gums. She has since had 7 root canals. Her teeth have been so damaged because of the metal in her mouth, she finds herself in the dentist office having excessive work done. She’s barely 38 and is well on her way to getting all of her teeth removed and a set of fake dentures made up. She only had the piercing in for a few short weeks and the damage it created is irreversible. In the moment, the tongue piercing can be quick and painless. You may not suffer any immediate damage to your teeth or gums, but down the road you may find yourself regretting the entirety of the moment. Don’t do stuff to your body that can have lasting effects on your health. Be careful and fully research the effects it will have to you in the long run.

I have had my tongue pierced for more than a decade. I have never had any problems with it. No infections, hasn’t chipped my teeth and I speak perfectly fine. I won’t say infections can’t happen, but if it’s taken care of properly it won’t give you any problems. The tooth chipping and such are more so with people that play with their tongue ring

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yes it can cause you to lose your taste and all the stuff above!…some people have to get part of their tongue cut off because it gets infected so just because it didn’t happen to you doesn’t mean it does not happen

A couple of hours after I got my tongue pierced, I put on Guns And Ships to make sure I could keep pace with the fastest song on Broadway. I lisped for a couple of days but it has definitely not given me a speech impediment, haha.

I got a tongue ring about a week ago, i am now about 80% healed and sk far no infection, no speach impediment, no difficulty in tasting or eating, and i kan pronounce words propperly and move my tongue perfectly. Also im very sure most people will wear plastic balls on their jewellery, because almost all the plastic ones are harmless and look cooler so harming your teeth wont happen easily 😀 also make sure the piercer also shows their license and that they give you a long enough bar for the swelling after the piercing occurs, it also doesn’t hurt when you get it but it might fir the first 2 or 3 mornifs afterwards. I suggest staying away from too strong liquids, because liquids go into the wound and will hurt, solids do need chewing yes, but it wont go into the pierced area easily. So far I’ve been enjoying my piercing and i have already replaced it with a more comfortable size. So for those who want one, go ahead! It is worth it! Just make sure the piercer knows exactly what he or she does and even ask your friends who have one where they got theirs.

I already have a gap in my front teeth and meant to be going to have my tongue pierced tomorrow now having second thoughts as I think the bar might get caught in my teeth when I talk. Does this happen a lot? Anyone help me please before I get it done and regret it???

I’ve had my tongue pierced for a few years now, it really didnt hurt too bad, the cracking sound as it ripped through my tongue was painful, also I personally didnt bleed, the swelling was the worst part about it which goes away after a good while, I personally play with my tongue ring way to much, surprisingly my teeth are perfectly fine which I find weird…. I didnt do it to look cool or anything, I did it because I personally wanted it.

No way can the author of this literary “article” be taken seriously. Yes, any body modification can cause issues if you don’t go to a professional sanitary parlor. If you are too lazy to follow directions on taking care of it. etc. But most people have zero problems. Everyone I know with piercings says the tongue is the least painful. Also, what kind of out of touch individual assumes everyone getting pierced is some stupid kid who wants to look cool? I’m a 31 yo stay at home/homeschooling mother of three. I’m getting pierced and tattooed because I want to, for me, no one else. Stop being such a judgemental misinformed price, sir. ? I put getting body modifications off because I kept telling myself I was too young, fear I’d regret it, etc. But now I see none of my friends regret theirs, including their tongue piercings, and life’s too short to buy into biased only semi factual articles like this. Yes, a tongue piercing can be dangerous… if you go to a piercer who does it wrong or if you don’t take care of it properly. But if you do your research, find a great piercer, and properly take care of the piercing after… there’s no greater risk with tongue piercing than with ear piercing.

My neighbor just had a painful graph along her gum line due to erosion caused by long time use of a tongue piercing. She needed the graph to prevent the loss of her front teeth. She had worn the piercing for a long time.

Ive had my tongue pierced for years and my teeth are fine, I DONT dribble, I can speak perfectly fine, Ive never chipped a tooth, I mean I caught it if I’m playing with it but that’s it, I can taste everything the same as before I got it pierced. The piercing itself doesn’t hurt, like at all, it’s the healing that does, and If you look after it it wont get infected. However yes it can ruin your gums if its rubbing against them. Mines kinda far back so it doesn’t do that. All in all, if you want the piercing go for it, as long as you actually look after it and go to a good and clean piercings place with good reviews all this stuff on here is unlikely. And the drooling thing, myself and the people I know who have the piercing don’t bloody drool, so that’s a lie.

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